Dilatory
by omgluvr24
Summary: Dia is brought to camp Half-Blood a mere week before her thirteenth birthday. But when over a week has passed and she has yet to be claimed, action is taken to find out her parentage.
1. Subway, Don't Get Eaten by that Monster

Ok, so this is my first fic for Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but I do have lots of other stories so check those out if you want to. Reviews are always welcome, but please if you have something bad to say, make it constructive, not "this story sucks". That's not helpful. At all. Anyway, the story:

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My name is Dia Mirati. I live in a foster house with ten other children, ranging from ages one to fifteen. From where our story starts, I was not yet thirteen. It was may of my sixth grade year, and my birthday is in June. My only friend at my school, 's Academy, was Oliver. He had really curly red hair, and always wore his baseball cap, no matter how many demerits he got from Mrs. Finworth, who never tolerated anyone who was out of uniform. It was a really hideous uniform, too. The girls had to wear grey skirts with a million pleats or shorts, but the only difference between the girls' shorts and the boys' pants is about one inch. We also had to wear starched, really uncomfortable white oxford shirts. It was an outfit I would spend the next two days in. It all started when Oliver and I were walking to the subway (the Boston transit unit, not the fast food store). We were waiting for our train to come when Oliver dropped the soda he was holding.

"What?" I asked, turning to the direction he was facing. There was a giant snake, but with a woman's head. It - She - bared her fangs and revealed a forked tounge. Ok. I thought to myself. This is a dream. But dreams are never like this. In dreams, I'm somewhere where everyone can see me and I'm the hero. But how could it be real? "What is _that?_" I asked when I had finally regained the ability to talk.

"Echidna." Oliver breathed out. He took out two knives, made of a weird bronze metal, that I would later learn is called celestial bronze. I had no idea how to use a knife, unless it was for cutting my dinner. Nevertheless, I was as impulsive as always and charged at the echidna, who cut me with her scythe. Why hadn't I seen that before. I didn't realize I was bleeding until after I retaliated against her, stabbing right where her heart was, and she turned to dust. Oliver ran up with his awkward run. "Dia, are you ok?" He asked. "Oh, gods, this is not good."

"Gods?" I asked, noticing that he had used the plural form of the noun. English was my good subject.

"Later, Dia, we've got to go to New York." He said as we boarded the subway. All of the people were staring at us. Had they seen it too?

"_New York? _Why? Rita will kill me!" Rita is my foster mother.

"Dia, we have to go to New York, _now._" Now, normally I would have put up an arguement. But Oliver had never used that sort of voice before, so I figured I had better listen. So, we took a bus on the four hour drive to New York City. We were dropped off at Grand Central. My left arm, the one that had gotten cut, was really starting to sting. I didn't have anything to cover it so it was hurting even more than I would expect it to. When Oliver looked at it, his eyes widened. "We've gotta move faster." He said, and dropped a golden coin on the ground. I would really like to tell you what happened next, but I blacked out. Oliver somehow got me to a house, where I woke up. Nobody was in the room with me when I awoke. I moved my arm and found that it was bandaged and hurt a bit less. My shirt, which used to be stiff, was wrinkled and stained. My hair was matted. I pulled it back into a bun and walked out of the room. A man who looked like someone who had been on vacation in Bermuda too long, minus the tan, was playing a card game with an older man in a wheelchair. Oliver was no where in sight. I backed up against the wall, afraid that I had been kidapped. But the older man saw me.

"You're awake. How's your arm?" He said with a smile. He had a kind voice, so I wasn't as reluctant as I thought I would be to answer him.

"Better, thanks." I said, looking down. "If you don't mind me asking and all, where am I?" I said, but so quietly that no one heard me. A boy who looked around seventeen with black hair came into the room with a girl the same age, with bright grey eyes and blonde hair.

"New demigod?" The boy asked. I had no idea what a demigod was. I had no idea where I was. I didn't know anyone around me.I like control over my life, and this was the complete opposite of that. I lost it and began to cry. The girl noticed first.

"It's ok." She said, hugging me awkwardly around the shoulders. "Does your arm hurt that much?" I shook my head.

"I-it's not my arm." I spluttered out through sobs.

"You don't know anything that's going on." She said. I nodded. "Well, here." She handed me a tissue. "I'm Annabeth, this," she gestured to the boy. "is Percy. The man in the wheelchair is Chiron and the other one is Mr.D." She explained.

"Anniebell, introduce me by my proper name, someone'll have to explain it to her sometime." Mr.D. said. He didn't strike me as being very nice, not even knowing Annabeth's name.

"Mr.D's real name is Dionysus." Annabeth said.

"Like the mythology?" I asked. Why would that explain _anything?_

"Yes. You see, uh, I'm sorry I don't know your name."

"Dia." I said, introducing myself.

"Dia, you know the Greek gods and goddesses. Well, they're real." She sounded like she gave this speech a lot. "And so are the monsters from the stories. I'm guessing from that bandage, you've already met one."

"What was it?" The boy, Percy, asked.

"Percy, don't be so tactless. She might not want to talk about it." Annabeth chided.

"Oliver called it a...an Echidna." I informed them. This was still so confusing. What did I care if the Greek gods were real?

"Oooh, not a nice first pick." Percy said. "You look confused." I nodded. "This is a camp for demigods, or half-bloods. All of us, all the campers, have a godly parent. Mine's Posiedon and Annabeth's Athena." I looked at them both.

"Prove it." I insisted. Percy looked at me.

"How are we supposed to prove that? Don't you beleive us?" He asked. I shook my head. He sighed and went to the pitcher of water on the table. Before I knew what he was doing, there was water floating in the air in front of me. "Beleive us now?" I nodded silently. That was what really told me that this was real.

"So who's my parent?" I asked, they seemed to know whose everyone's parents were.

"Well, we don't know. But a year ago, Percy made the gods swear that they'd claim thier children by the time they were thirteen. How old are you, Dia?" Annabeth questioned.

"I'll be thirteen in a week." I answered her. Annabeth nodded.

"Then you'll be claimed pretty soon. Come on, we'll show you to your cabin."

Review please! - Emma


	2. I prank the liers

The cabin I was lead to, out of all of the beatuiful ones, including one that looked like a garden shaped into a house, with grass on the floors and the roof, one with a purple roof and very pretty girls sitting out front, and one that shone. And, out of at least twenty of them, I was lead to the absolute ugliest one there was. It was brown, with the paint chipping off. There was nothing particularly distinct about it, either.

"What cabin is this?" I asked Annabeth as she led me inside.

"This is Hermes' cabin." She replied. "Connor!" She called through the field sized cabin. "Travis!"

"Why am I here. I thought you didn't know who my parent is." I said, did she realize somehow?

"Hermes is the god of travelers, so all of the undetermined campers stay here until their parent claims them." she explained

"So that'll be soon, right?" I asked. No offense to Hermes, but his cabin is hideous.

"Yup. Well, I have to go, Ancient Greek is soon. You can find me in the Athena cabin if you need me. Connor and Travis are your head counselors for now." She said, gesturing the the boys who looked exactly alike. And with that, she was gone.

"I'm Connor." One of them said.

"I'm Travis." The other one supplied, obviously. I really had to find a way to tell them apart. In the mean time, I decided not to act like a mute.

"I'm Dia." I said.

"Right, so this is your bed, on the girls side." One of them - Travis? - explained, gesturing to the top bunk of a bed where a few other girls' stuff was. "And the schedule-" He walked over to a desk. "is here." He handed me the paper it read:

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast & Breakfast & Breakfast & Breakfast & Breakfast &

Cabin Inspection Cabin Inspection Cabin Inspection Cabin Inspection Cabin Inspection

9:00 - 10:30 Pegasus Riding Archery Tracking Skills Volleyball Monster assault

Techniques

10:30 - 11:00 Picking Strawberries Store Checks Polishing Armor Lunch Preparation Cleaning Stables

11:00 - 12:00 Ancient Greek Ancient Greek Ancient Greek Ancient Greek Ancient Greek

12:00 - 12:30 Greek Mythology Greek Mythology Greek Mythology Greek Mythology Greek Mythology

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

1:30 - 3:00 Ride the Rapids Sword Skills Weapon Making Javelin Throwing Wrestling

3:00 - 4:30 Wood Chopping Firework Making Letters Home Laundry Cabin Clean-up

4:30 - 6:00 Free Time Free Time Free Time Free Time Free Time

6:00 - 7:00 Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner

7:00 - 9:00 Volleyball League Unarmed Combat Archery knockout Trials of Strength Capture the Flag

9:00 - 10:00 Campfire Singalong Campfire Singalong Campfire Singalong Campfire Singalong Campfire Singalong

"Pegasus riding?" I looked up at them "Like, the flying horses Pegasuses?"

"Actually, I think it's Pegasi but yeah, that's the general idea." The one who had given me the schedule, who I was 90% sure was Travis, replied.

"Out of all of that stuff and you're worried about riding Pegasi?" That was _probably _Connor then, asked incredulous.

"Yeah." I said in a really small voice. I looked at my watch. It was 1:15, which meant we were supposed to be at lunch. I decided that would be a good way to change the subject. Besides, that was Wednesday, I wouldn't have to ride a pegasus for five days. "Why aren't you two at lunch?"

Now _they _looked uncomfortable. "Can you keep a secret?" Connor asked.

"Who would I tell?" It wasn't like I really knew anyone yet.

"Good point." He continued on. "Well see, Travis and I," So I was right, he was Connor! I realized a difference in them, Connor was shorter! That would be how to tell them apart. " were planning on playing a prank, on the Ares cabin, 'cause they said they would do the dishes for us if we sided with them, but they didn't so we got in trouble. But then Annabeth and you came, and I don't know if there's enough time now."

"What was the prank?" I asked, intrigued.

"We were gonna put Itch powder in their beds." Travis said, looking sad at the loss of a good prank.

"Here give me the itch powder." I said, holding my hand out. They looked at me with that But-we-just-told-you-there's-not-enough-time look. "If I get caught while I'm still in there, I can pretend I got lost." They grinned, and Connor handed me a canister of white powder. "Wish me luck!" I said and ran out. I came back in immeditely. "Which one's the Ares' Cabin."

After they directed me to an equally as ugly cabin, that looked almost like it was painted in blood, I ran inside, dumping generous amounts of powder in each bed. I got out just moments before they came in. I ran back into the Hermes' Cabin and handed the almost empty jar to Connor. "Nice one, Dia, they didn't see you, did they?" I shook my head. "Excellent. Hey everyone!" He raised his voice. "This is Dia, our new undetermined camper and Ares prank puller extrodiare!" They all cheered. I looked down, embarrased.

"Just hope my parent isn't Ares." I said when they queited down. I looked at my schedule. "Weapons making? What do I need to do _that _for? Can't I just buy one?" I complained as we walked to the forges.

LALALALALALALALALA

Review please!


	3. I'm not the only one who ditches singing

So I made a sword. I know, that sounds awesome, right? Well, in actuality, it was awful. It was slanting somewhat to the right on the hilt and was pretty blunt. As if that wasn't bad enought, I couldn't use it. After that we had time to write letters home. I wrote to Rita, trying as best I could to explain. She wouldn't be too worried. She had enough on her mind with all of the other kids in her house. She would write back, though. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was just that she never worried too much about us older kids. In free time a girl named Monite taught me how to play volleyball with the rest of the cabin. She was a year or two older than me and was an officiall determined Hermes child. Everyone else, even some of them younger than me, were determined. It was really irking me that I hadn't been claimed yet, even thought I hadn't been there long. My birthday was in seven days, surely I would be claimed in sometime then.

Dinner was really good, a lot better than Rita's cooking. The only annoyance was that I had to put some of it in the fire, in honor of the gods. I wasn't exactly willing, considering I didn't even know who my parent was, so I didn't know who to pray to. I just thanked Hermes, it seemed like the right thing to do. After that we had archery knockout. I was really good at that, actually. All of my arrows ended up in a cluster in the center of the target. I looked back at the rest of my cabin after I loosed the last one.

"Apollo?" Travis asked.

"What? I asked, unlacing the leather wristgaurd they had given me. I pulled my hair elastic out, relasing my black hair down to my shoulders.

"Your parent, Apollo maybe?" Travis repeated. I shook my head.

"I was brought to the whole foster care system by my father, who, according to my social worker, found me on his doorstep and didn't want his wife to know about his infidelity." I explained. It did bother me still, to tell the story of how nobody had wanted me, but I had gotten good at masking it. I had to tell it to a lot of people, new foster parents, possible adoptive parents, the social worker who inspected Rita's house to make sure we were safe and interviewed us all.

"Infi-whatsit?" Monite asked. I had forgotten that not everyone liked english as much as I do.

"Infidelity, it means unfaithful. In other words, my dad cheated on his wife with my mom and didn't want me." I said. Now it was starting to bother me. I looked down at the grass and closed my eyes to hold back tears.

"Oh," Travis obviously regretted his comment. "But hey, you're great with that bow and arrow, we'll have to get you a good one." He said, trying to be positive. I grinned at him, though it was mostly fake.

"Great."

I didn't sing at the campfire sing-a-long. Partly because I didn't know the words to the songs, but mostly because I wasn't really in the mood for it. When nobody was looking, I slipped away. It was dark and nobody noticed. I wandered from the ampitheater to the ocean. I took off my shoes and waded to my ankles in the waves. After my feet were close to numb, I sat back on the dry sand. I thought of what I had told the Hermes cabin. I thought of my mother, one of the gods who didn't bother to even leave a note with me in that basket. The only thing she had left with me was a silver locket with "Dia" enscribed in it. Of my father, who was more intent on saving a marriage he didn't beleive in in the first place that he had left a child with barely a word and no name. My first social worker had named me from my necklace. I held it in my fist as salty water fell onto the sand from my cheeks. I felt someone sit down next to me. I kept my head down and hoped I didn't know them and that they didn't realize that I was crying.

I lost my first wish. It was Percy. "Hey, Dia, what are you doing over here?" Maybe he hadn't noticed I was crying. I opened my mouth to greet him as I tried to figure a way to dry my tears so he wouldn't notice. All that came out was a sob. "Uh, Dia?" He asked uncertianly. "Um, what's wrong?" He asked. I sniffed and wiped my eyes.

"Did you hear? The story I had to tell my cabin today?" He looked at me skeptically. "I had to explain to them why it was impossible for me to Apollo's child."

"No, I didn't. Uh, if you don't mind or anything, why can't you be Apollo's child. I _did _hear you're really good at archery."

I stayed silent. Percy started to get up. "My mother left me with my father. So it was my mother who was the god.

"Why don't you ask your dad, maybe he knows who it was." I shook my head.

"He got rid of me the second he saw me. Didn't want his wife to know. " I blinked back tears again. "She did leave me this." I showed him the locket. "It's how I was named. Can you figure anytihng out of it?" Percy examined the pendent then shook his head.

"Any god could have given this to you, I dunno. But, if you want a bad story, my dad only claimed me to do his work for him."

I looked at him. "Really? What work?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. By now, I think you're supposed to be in bed." He pointed to the ampitheater, which was empty.

The next morning we ate breakfast, placed in third in the cabin inspection, played volleyball, helped make lunch, and learned ancient Greek and Greek Mythology. You'd have thought they would have changed it to "Greek history" since it is, apparently, real. I guess that would just confuse everyone, though. After lunch I learned to throw javelins, spent our laundry time getting some new clothes from the camp store, ate dinner, lost pretty much every trial of strength I tried, and sang at the campfire sing-a-long. Well, I sang through what parts I could. On the way back to the cabins, Percy told me the story of his first quest, with Annabeth adding in things to deflate his ego. I tried to put it out of my mind that my thirteenth birthday was less than six days away.

Soooo, tell me what you think! - Em


	4. Experimental Design

So, it's been three days. That means only three more 'till my birthday. Monite says that I should be claimed any second now. I try not to look up through my bangs to the top of my head. It would be pretty obvious, wouldn't it? I mean, my hair is almost black, is there a god whose favorite color or whatever is black? Probably, but I don't like black that much so she's probably not my mom. Besides, I don't think any of the goddesses have anything depressing enough to have a black symbol. So, let's see there's Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. I'm not even going to comment on how far off that one could be from my mother. Hestia, a virgin goddess, but had a cabin "out of respect." Moving on. Demeter, goddess of growing plants and stuff. Ok, let's do a little experiment on this one. Step one, put hand on ground. Step two, will grass or whatever plant is under your hand to grow, like a lot, and fast. If it does, Congratulations! You're a child of Demeter. If, like me, you're having trouble summoning your green thumb, or even a slightly sickly looking pinky, better luck on the next goddess.

I was running this whole "Whose daughter am I?" experiment on the front porch of the Hermes cabin, while I skipped out on lunch. I wasn't hungry. So, Athena, goddess of wisdom. Well, I don't think any of her kids have any really cool powers except being smart and having gray eyes. Lunch wasn't the only thing I skipped out on, my grades were what they were because my teachers' handwriting makes it easier to change a D or an F to a B. Also, my eyes are hazel. Next up, Hera, goddess of Mariagge and, well, I think that's about it. She sounded like a good candidate, besides the fact that she didn't have any kids. I put her on my list of potential mothers. Artemis, virgin goddess, and she doesn't do the whole "my kids are born out of my head thing" like Athena...Persphone, she's the daughter of Demeter and the goddess of spring. I like spring and all, but if I failed the Demeter test, it wasn't likely I was her daughter. Hectate is the goddess of magic and some other stuff, but I can't make sparkles in the air. Next up, Nemesis, goddess of divine retribution. I don't know what that means, but according to Annabeth, it means revenge. I'm not a particularly vengeful person, so I'm crossing that one off the list. But in erasable pen, just in case. Iris is the goddess of the rainbow. Learning that seriously put me off skittles. I guess she could be my mother, so second one on the list. Ok, now time for another experiment. It's to find out if you're the goddess of Hebe. Ok, here's how you do it, start the experiment when you're a teenager, then wait, oh, fifty years. If you still look the same, awesome, you are now sixty-three and know your godly parent. She's the goddess of youth. Since I have nothing to disprove her, she goes on the list, too.

My list, when it was finished, consisted of:

And they were all because I couldn't really find a way that they couldn't be my mother. There's no evidence for any of them that I _am _their child. Yippee! This has gotten me so much farther on my seach. In case you're daft or something, I'm being sarcastic. It was Sunday that day, so we pretty much were free to do whatever we wanted as long as nobody died or left the camp. I worked on my sword skills with Annabeth. Now, a word about swords. They're _heavy._ Don't let the idea of kids fighting with them confuse you. Now, I'm a relativly small person, I'm 4'9" and weigh about 100 pounds. So yeah, I'm a bit stocky for my height, I've learned to deal with it. But even with that slight more amount of muscle, I can barely lift one of those practice swords, let alone swing it around.

So Annabeth persuaded a son of Hephesteus to make me a lighter sword. It's sort of like a fencing sword, only bronze and a bit wider. Plus, there's no safety tip on the end of it. Even that tires my arms sometimes, so I'm trying to learn to use it in both hands. It's particularly painful in my right hand, or my un-dominant hand. And one more cool thing about my sword. The boy who made it, Evan, seems to like Annabeth (does he not realize that she's totally into Percy? I mean, seriously!), so he put an opal in the hilt (that's the part where I hold it). It apparently has two purposes. One is that it just looks _awesome._ It also makes rainbows. You know how when you tilt opals, you see a bunch of different colors? Well, apparently that's a rainbow. So it's a communication device, because I can ask Iris, the goddess of rainbows and one of my potential mothers, to deliver a message. The're called Iris messages.

"Dia, stop admiring that opal and focus." Annabeth scolded. "No, you're hands are wrong. They're supposed to be like this." She repositioned my hands on the hilt of my sword. "Good, now, practice with that dummy, I'm going to get some water."

Percy walked into the practice arena while she was gone, holding a ballpoint pen. "Nice sword, can I see it?" He asked. I handed it over to him. "Here, you can see mine." He threw me the pen.

"Uh, Percy?" I said uncertianly.

"Just uncap it." He instructed, inspecting the blade of my new sword. I did as he told me to. A sword, wider than mine but made out of the same metal, formed into my hand. I dropped it, half because I was surprised, and half because it was really heavy. "What was that for?" He asked, looking up at me.

'I-I'm sorry, I just was surprised and I can't hold it and-" I was so scared I didn't know what to do. I grabbed my new weapon and ran.


	5. I get saved from a biker by a surfer

Ok, so remember how I told you fighting with a sword is hard. Well, now imagine running with it. To the woods. Not exactly sure why the camp has woods, because I mean, seriously? Who plays capture the flag with all those trees in the way? It's such a disadvantage. So, once I got into the woods, I was really tired. So I sat down on some random rock, you know, nothing important going on, just a girl who would turn thirteen in almost two days who was running...why?

Why did I run? I'm not really sure. It was just, I was scared of Percy, and of what he would do to me for dropping his sword. Ok, so I know what you're thinking now: Oh my god(s, depending on what you believe), this child is subject to abuse. The reality of it, no foster parent had ever laid a hand on me. I just didn't know what to expect from the demigods or at camp. For all I knew, they used Greek torture devices as punishment for having a dirty cabin. So, back to me in the woods on a rock.

After I stopped freaking out, I looked around me. There were some green girls peering at me from behind trees, but as soon as they saw the direction of my sight, they disappered. Like, they melted straight into the trees like they were that stuff you always learn about in science class that's hard when you punch it and soft when you relax your hand into it. But something told me that if the green people ran head-on into those trees, they wouldn't ricochet off. Anyway, I was trying to remember what the name was for them when something landed on my head. And not, like, a leaf. Something hard that made my vision dim and go fuzzy. Then I learned what it was when it cam into my line of (really bad) vision. It was a club with spikes on it. I turned around and saw what looked like a giant motorcyclist, but with yellow teeth.

Now, I don't know about you, but my general reaction to living things bigger than me is to be somewhat frightened. I'll admit it, I screamed. Wouldn't you? My sword looked like a toothpick compared to this y, and I didn't really know how to fight with it in the first place. I screamed again for good measure, and because I was hoping someone would hear it and come rescue me. It took awhile for anyone ,to come. During that time, you might expect me to do something heroic like single-handedly defeat the ginormus biker. In actuality, I hid behind a tree. The first person to show up was a boy, maybe a year older than me, who seriously looked like a stereotypical California guy, with tan skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. He whipped his head to the side to get his bangs out of his eyes. "Whoa. What is that?" He asked

"I think the more important question is, how do we fight it?" I said, a bit more confident now that the monster had a larger human target to aim at.

"Like this." He went around behind the monster and stabbed him in the back of the knee. The thing let out a "Eurgh" and fell forward. Towards me. I had the common sense to move, but not fast enough. His arm fell on me and it was _heavy. _I could barely breathe. The surfer dude stabbed the monster in the back and it turned to dust. I sat up, coughing, because wouldn't you if you had something's arm that was twice your weight on your chest?

"You alright?" He asked. I nodded and stood up with his help. He was about half a foot taller than me, which isn't exactly a huge accomplishment. "I think that was a Laistrygonian giant, it fits the description but I've never reallly seen one."

"Well, as long as we know what it's name is, we're all saved, aren't we?" I snapped. I wasn't exactly in the mood for this, this was a seriously traumatizing day for me.

"Yeah, well we've got to go to the big house, monsters aren't supposed to be in here. What were you doing here any-"

"What is it?" Percy came running towards us, sword out. "Oh, uh, hi, Dia. What's going on."

'Laistrygonian giant in the woods, we got him, though." The guy said.

"More like you." I muttered. ,

"Yeah, I stabbed him, but you were excellent bait to distract him."

"Can I bear the compliment?" I said darkly. Then I started walking n my own to the big house. Surfer boy caught up with me.

"So your name's Dia?" He asked. I didn't respond. I'm Kent." He held out his hand. I kept walking. "Ok, so look, did I do something wrong? Would you have preferred to be mutilated by that monster, because next time I see one, I'll put it on hold for you if you want."

"Look, Kent, thanks for saving me, it was great, so again, thanks, but I'm turning thirteen in less than three days and still haven't been claimed!" I was going to continue on my rant, but I was feeling light headed. I put a hand to the back of my skull and, when i pulled it away, it was sticky and red with blood.

"That's not good." Kent said. "Can you walk?" I nodded and started walking to the big house. When we got there, I was put back in the bed where I had been last time. I don't really remember what happened after that because I, once again, passed out.

LALALALALALALALALALALALA

Love it? Hate it? Sorta like it but still...something? I would love to know!


	6. I become famous

Guess what everyone! I woke up on my birthday! Exciting, right? And do you want to know what happened as soon as I woke up? Come on, guess. Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. At all. The only person who I saw that morning was Annabeth, who came in to give me a fudge-flavored drink. She wouldn't even look me in the eyes. I heard a lot of yelling outside the door, too, but I wasn't supposed to leave. Keyword: supposed. So I did anyway. It was Percy who was yelling, and he looked really mad. Like, I'm-going-to-rip-your-head-off-mad. So, I just stood there, not sure what was going on.

"Percy, calm down. The summer solstice is tomorrow. Why not go and - _calmly - _ask about it." Annabeth reasoned to him. "Dia!" She scolded when she saw me. "You're not supposed to be up. How's your head?" She asked, walking over to me.

Truthfully, it hurt like nothing I'd ever felt before. "It's fine. Why's Percy so mad?" I asked her.

"It's your birthday today, isn't it?" Percy asked. He still seemed pretty angry. That made my temper flare up as well.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me, that's really what I want to hear when I wake up: 'It's your birthday but no one felt like claiming you. Too bad! Have fun being unclaimed for the rest of your life!'" I yelled at him. That made my head hurt more, and I put my hand on the wall to steady myself.

"Dia, that's what Percy is mad about, too. You see, the gods gave Percy a wish and he asked that they claim their children before their thirteenth birthday. So your mother broke that oath. Percy's going to _politely" _She stared at him pointedly "confront the gods about it, and then you'll know who your mother is, okay." I glared at both of them for a minute, then nodded.

The next day, we boarded into a car and drove into New York City. I wasn't sure why we were going _there _to see the gods, but I figured I should just stay quiet. We were dropped off by the driver (who had eyes all over him!) in front of the Empire State Building. I followed Percy, Annabeth, Kent, and a few other campers who were all at least a year older than me into the building. Percy went up to the guy at the front desk, and then came back with a card in his hand. We loaded into the elevator, which was a really tight squeeze, and rode the the 600th floor. You see, according to everyone at camp, that's where is. It was kinda awkward as we went up, because I knew everyone was staring at me, because I was the reason for Percy's rage.

Olympus is beautiful. I can't even begin to describe it, but just the way it is. I didn't get to admire it very much, because Percy and Annabeth were leading us to our destination at a very fast pace. Our destination was the throne room. In there were the gods, all really big and scary looking. I hid behind a tall boy in the group, hoping to not be noticed at all. Percy stormed into the middle of the U shape of thrones. "You broke your oath." He stated firmly. They all stared at him

"What is the meaning of this?" The guy in the middle, who looked like he was in charge, exclaimed

"Percy." A man who looked like the boy he was adressing warned.

"Dia." Percy motioned to me. I stood there, what was I supposed to do, waltz in there? Ha. All of the campers pushed me forward and I took to hiding behind Percy instead. "She turned thirteen years old yesterday and she hasn't been claimed." He said, still using that mad-but-even tone. "You swore an oath to claim your children. So, who's her mother?"

The gods were murmuring to each other, craning their necks to get a better look at me.

"Come here, child." The head guy boomed at me. I figured he was Zeus, who was the leader of the gods. "Well, who claims her?" He asked, as if I weren't _right there._

"I do." A woman on a throne to the side said.

dundundun!!! haha, I'm evil! anyway, review and I'll update faster!


	7. My mom's younger than I am

Ok, scratch that, my mother didn't even have an actual throne. No, she had a stone, next to a fire pit. Just about the greatest way the gods can say "Yeah, we totally care about you and your mother, see, we gave her this nice rock to prove it!"

So I did what any regular, rational person would do. I crossed my arms, narrowed my eyes and said "Who are you?" You know, now that I think of it, I don't think that deportment is one of my best skills.

"Um, Dia." Percy muttered beside me. "Don't speak like that to the gods."

"It's all right, Perseus." My mother said who, by the way, was about the same size as me. "I am Hestia, goddess of the hearth."

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I crossed Hestia off my list of potential mothers. I wracked my brain for the reason, and then it came to me. She was one of the maiden goddesses, never to have children or…do other stuff. I pursed my lips, thinking. Athena was supposed to be a maiden goddess, too, but she had kids. Maybe the rule had changed or something. I was pretty sure I was wrong, though, judging by the astonished and outraged looks of the gods.

What was I supposed to say? "Hi, mom, great to see you, love what you've done with your hair, well, I should get back to camp, bye!" I figured that wouldn't go over so well, and I muttered something really good like "Oh."

"Hestia!" A voice behind me rumbled. I jumped from fright and grabbed Percy's arm.

"Who was _that?_" I asked him

"That's Zeus. Look, the gods want us to leave, come on, I'll show you the rest of Olympus."

I followed him, glancing back at my mom as I left. She looked pretty mad, but so did the guy she was talking to. And, no offense to her, but I didn't see how my ten-year-old mother could beat _that _guy.

"What's going to happen?" I asked Annabeth, once Percy and I had fallen into step with her.

"I-I don't know. There's no cabin for Hestia, so I think we'll have you stay in the Hermes cabin until one is built. And that's pretty much the only thing that'll change.

"You sure?" I asked uncertainly

"Uh-huh." Annabeth replied, but she paused before she said it and I knew she was lying.

"We have come to a decision!" Zeus, or at least I think it was Zeus, thundered from the throne room.

"Well, that was a great tour." I murmured. We walked back to where the gods were sitting, and I noticed all of them were staring at me. I backed up between Annabeth and Percy and tried to shrink even smaller than I am.

"We will not be killing the girl." Oh, great! I thought Hang on, who was going to kill me.

"Since when do you plan on killing your own daughter, or you own family?" I exclaimed, now bursting out to the middle of the gods.

"Now, see here-" One of the male gods started. Just looking at him made me even angrier.

"Aren't all the gods related and stuff?" I asked, turning to look at the Athena kids, who nodded reluctantly. "So aren't I, like, related to all of them?" Again they nodded. "Well, you know, this is great. The first actual family I ever have and they consider killing me."

"What do you mean, your first actual family?" Hestia asked.

"Well, you see, my dad was married, just in case you didn't know that. So _he _didn't want a love child that his wife would find out about, and you didn't want me either, so I've been in the foster care system my whole life. And then you all go 'Welcome to the family, nice to meet you, here's your mom, and we're feeling generous today so maybe we won't kill you!' Do you ever think-"

"That is enough!" Zeus yelled. I was really scared, but I acted defiant and stared him down, for all that I was looking up about forty feet to his eyes. "You, child, will stop talking. Do you think that we are proud that Hestia has broken her promise, that she has a child? Did you stop to consider that you are threatening her reputation?" His voice had gone from thunder to lightning.

"You do know it's the 21st century, right? I mean, it's not ancient Greece anymore. Besides, every single kid standing behind me is illegitimate. And you have a kid, don't you? You weren't married to his mom, were you?"

"Her mom." Percy corrected me.

"Whatever. I'm leaving." I walked to the elevator. "And don't expect to see me at camp!" I yelled back at them.

LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALAL

Sorry it's short and that I haven't updated for a while, I've got exams next week, and then I go away on the 10th, but I'll try and update a lot in between. Review, please!


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